Cupid, XOXO
by Savannah O'Ryan
Summary: New to East, Troy Bolton is intriqued by the idea of the school's matchmaker. Cupid on the other hand has enjoyed the freedom of remaining anonymous and in the background, the mystery adding to the myth. Except Troy wants the one girl Cupid wont give him.
1. Be Intrigued

**Cupid, XOXO**

Chapter 1: Be Intrigued

* * *

The hallways of East High were crowded as the first bell sounded on the Monday after Winter Break. Clutching her books to her chest, Gabriella Montez leaned her shoulder into her locker and watched as students streamed by her on their way to class. Her eyes flicked downward, contemplating her timetable to refresh her memory and then upward at the sound of her name, calling from somewhere further down the hall. She straightened, her eyes searching the crowd and lighting on the tall figure easily weaving his way towards her.

Zeke Baylor had been her best friend since he moved into the house next door to Gabriella's in the summer leading into the second grade. He was the only other child on the street and he had a puppy. Gabriella didn't seem to require anything else in a friend, and soon Zeke found himself constantly at Gabriella's. They baked cookies and ate her mom's brownies. They swam in Zeke's pool and watched his dad build a treehouse. By the time school resumed, they had become inseparable. Now in their senior year of high school, they remained close despite relatively separate social circles. Zeke had the basketball team, and Gabriella had student government and the honours club, but neither saw it as anything other than separate interests. They knew that their friends looked at them with amusement. They made an odd pair, people would joke lightly, and Gabriella would roll her eyes in response.

With her dark spiral curls and olive skin, she rarely wore makeup and was just as comfortable in jeans as she was in the simple navy t-shirt dress she had chosen that morning. She was on the honour roll and the Scholastic Decathlon, headed student government and the yearbook committee, and wrote for the school newspaper. Zeke on the other hand was athletic, playing basketball for East High and the city league. He would have flunked out of math years ago if not for Gabriella, just as he only took Drama because she had insisted they share a class together. His coffee coloured skin accentuated his height and size, dwarfing Gabriella and those he was pushing past to reach her. Eyeing the clock on the wall, she fidgeted impatiently as she waited, flipping her hair over her shoulder in the process.

"Oh, relax, Darbus will still be there when we arrive," Zeke joked when he reached her, having noticed how her eyes kept shifting to the clock.

"You're late," she stated, letting him drape an arm over her shoulders and steer them both in the direction of the classroom. "You left home when I did, where have you been?"

"I picked up Chad," Zeke told her breezily, dropping his arm to allow her to walk into the classroom ahead of him. "And then we lurked around the gym to get a glimpse of the new coach."

"You lurked," Gabriella repeated, looking over her shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him. It was well known that East High had recently hired a new head coach for their athletic department to replace Coach Harrison who had suffered from a heart attack back in December. "You mean you stalked him."

"Stalking implies that we spied. We didn't spy. We were conveniently in a position to notice if he came in." Zeke sounded quite proud of his defence and Gabriella couldn't help but look amused as she took an empty seat inside the classroom. Zeke chose the one beside her, letting his bag drop to the floor. "We didn't see him anyway."

"So you aborted the lurking mission?" she asked innocently, smirking as she opened her planner to add in the meeting that afternoon for the newspaper.

"Go ahead, mock me," Zeke admonished lightly, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms over his head. "I'll keep the information I got from Sharpay this morning to myself."

Gabriella`s retort was interrupted by Chad Danforth and Jason Cross entering the classroom. Chad, with his curly afro and orange basketball, shared a high five with Zeke before sliding into the seat behind Gabriella. She acknowledged him with a small smile, before turning her attention towards Jason and the red head who had arrived just a second behind him. She smiled as Jason greeted Martha Cox with a quick kiss on the cheek before both of them found a seat and began examining their schedules. Someone pulled one of Gabriella's curls. She turned, glaring at Chad.

"You were staring," he shrugged.

"So?" she demanded, blushing at being caught.

"You had that weird look on your face that all the girls get when they see those two together." Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, shifting her gaze to Zeke who tried to hide a grin before she looked back to Chad. He sighed. "You know? That 'oh, it's so romantic' look."

"You don't think it's romantic?"

"What's romantic?" a voice asked, and Gabriella watched Sharpay Evans plop into the seat in front of Gabriella. She shrugged off her jacket and pulled a tube of lipgloss out of her bag. Turning, she leaned over Gabriella's desk in interest. She was about to repeat her question when she caught sight of Jason and Martha. "Oh, those two? It is romantic. Plus, it has that whole opposites attract optimism thing going on. People love that."

"Girls love that," Chad corrected, spinning the basketball on one finger.

"No, people do," Sharpay argued, brushing back her sunny blonde hair. Gabriella watched in interest, sharing a look with Zeke. "Guys ask to be set up too, you know."

"How would you know?" Chad countered, interest piquing his voice and Gabriella shot him a curious look. "Are you telling me that you're Cupid?"

Gabriella suddenly noticed that they had caught the attention of the rest of the class with Chad's mention of Cupid. Several sets of eyes turned their way with interest, waiting to hear if there was a new match made among them, or another legendary screw-up. Cupid had been around since Gabriella and Zeke's sophomore year at East High. It had started with a small square advertisement in the school paper offering matchmaking services for the upcoming Valentine's Day dance. It had limited use, but word got around after the dance that everyone who was paired had actually enjoyed their matches; some even continued to date afterwards. News spread and the paper was questioned, with the only answer coming from the editor being that the ad had been legitimately purchased through the school and all contact was made through an email address. Pressure was applied and when the next dance was announced for April, half of East High's single population signed up to be matched.

Three years later, it was a tradition and Cupid was legendary. No one knew who she was, although the gossip mill was constantly turning out new ideas. They could guess she was a junior or a senior based on when the first ad originally appeared in the paper, but even that was considered rocky evidence. She could be a faculty member or a sibling of a former student. It didn't matter in the end, as long as the system kept working. It was simple. Send an email to the address supplied by the school paper, tell Cupid what you wanted in a match, give her a code name to use and then wait a week for the next edition of the paper. On page six, opposite the schedule of school activities, the matched code names appeared with a place and time to meet on the Friday night of the next dance. There were successes and failures; Jason and Martha were among the former. Gabriella didn't like thinking about the latter.

"Me? Cupid?" Sharpay snorted. "Yeah, right. I wouldn't have the patience to know everyone the way she must. I would have to mingle and talk to the freshmen," she shivered at the thought and Gabriella smirked. "Ugh, no thank you. I meant that people talk and Cupid never matches people who have never asked for it."

Chad shrugged and diverted his attention to the front of the room where the last of the students were trailing in seconds before the final bell, Gabriella following his gaze to see Taylor McKessie enter the room with the teacher, Ms. Darbus. Lifting an eyebrow, Gabriella watched Chad's eyes trail Taylor's movements as she set a folder on the front desk and then weave herself between the aisles of desk until she found an empty one at the back by Kelsi Nielson. Gabriella snapped her gaze away when Chad slouched in his desk and toyed with the iPod in his hands, a frown on his face, and saw Zeke watching her with narrowed brows.

"What?" she asked, a smile tugging on the outer corner of her mouth, ideas swirling in her head.

"Really?" Zeke asked in a whisper, jerking his head first in Taylor's direction and then at an oblivious Chad with incredulity. "That?"

"A possibility," she replied simply. "Options are good. They allow for..."

Her thought trailed off with her words as movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Standing in the doorway, was a guy Gabriella was certain she had never seen before. He was not overly tall, but probably the same size as Jason and built along the same lines; obviously having spent time in a gym without trying to look like the hulk. His hair was light brown and the harsh fluorescent lighting in the room made his sunkissed golden highlights stand out. He didn't appear to be awkward as he assessed the room, but Gabriella could see the uncomfortable shift in his posture as a late student pushed past him. He swiped a hand across his forehead, pushing the hair out of his eyes so that when they landed on Gabriella for a moment, she could see that they were a piercing, crystal blue. Trying to appear unaffected, she turned her attention to his slightly baggy, dark jeans and the red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, only meeting his gaze again when Ms. Darbus called the entire class' attention to the front of the room.

"Young thespians," she called, embellishing her affection for them, "Mr. Bolton is to join us for the remainder of the year while his father takes over Coach Harrison's position with the athletic faculty. Please make him feel welcome and show him that you possess manners." Clearing her throat, Ms. Darbus searched the room for a moment. "Troy, I believe there is a seat on the far side of the room next to Mr. Evans."

The introduction complete and Troy Bolton looking sufficiently perplexed by the brusque nature of the teacher, Ms. Darbus began her back to school lecture on respect, the winter musicale production and the cell phone ban within the classroom. Following Troy as he crossed the front of the room, Gabriella grinned widely as she turned back to Zeke.

"Gabi," he warned knowingly."It's only his first day."

"Like I said," she shrugged, the smile never slipping, "Options are good."

Rolling his eyes, Zeke leaned back in his seat and watched the clock for homeroom to end while Gabriella made notes in her planner.

**~XOXO~**

Troy Bolton looked up from his chemistry textbook and watched from the lab table he had chosen at the back of the room as students streamed in from the hall outside. He had followed his new classmates out of homeroom when the bell had rung, using the map of the school given to him by the secretary and trying to recall the hallways from his tour of the school the day before. The chemistry lab had been easy to locate, its double doors propped open and large posters outside on the wall being enough to make sure no student got lost. He had stopped only for a moment to notice that East High had a winning scholastic decathlon team, before entering the room and finding an empty table.

Although never a shy person, Troy had yet to directly meet anyone at East High. The signing bonus from the school board had been enough for his parents to purchase a larger than average home in an area a few blocks from East High, but despite the morning and evening jogs he had taken for the past six nights, Troy hadn't discovered anyone his own age. Ryan Evans had seemed friendly enough when Troy was seated by him in homeroom, but their five minute chat about California and Darbus' dictatorship was not enough to warrant Troy into thinking he had found a new best friend. Sighing, he flipped aimlessly through the textbook, noting with disappointment and frustration that the class was further ahead than his class in California.

"You'll love Albuquerque, Troy," Troy muttered to himself, pitching his voice to mimic his mother's tone the night they had told him they were moving. "It's a great opportunity for your father," he continued. "Forgot to mention that there's only a month of basketball left. Forgot to mention that these people are geniuses and I will never get caught up."

"I hate to interrupt the conversation you are having with an imaginary friend right now, but you're sitting at our desk," an arrogant voice interrupted Troy's quiet rant.

Troy looked up to see two guys standing at the edge of the table, the one who had spoken looking annoyed as he spun a basketball on his finger before glancing back at Troy with a raised eyebrow. Troy said nothing, taking in the guy's curly afro, dark skin and his uncomfortable looking companion. He recognized them both from his homeroom, although he had yet to learn their names. About to respond, Troy found himself interrupted by the arrival of two more people at the table.

"Chad, stop being an ass." The speaker was slightly taller than Chad, with closely cropped hair and a friendlier smile. After glaring at Chad, who looked irritated, the newcomer extended a hand to Troy. "Hi, I'm Zeke Baylor. We're in homeroom together."

"Zeke, man, what are you doing?" Chad grumbled. "You know that Hartling will never let us have five at a table and if I don't sit with Gab, I'll fail. New Boy needs to move."

"Maybe Gab is tired of being spoken about when she's right here." Troy's eyebrows shot up at the female voice. "Maybe Gab thinks Chad should get a new tutor."

The boys stepped aside and Troy tried to control the widening of his eyes when he saw the girl attached to the voice. It was the girl he had noticed in homeroom, the one who smiled at him like she had a secret, although he was pretty sure she was just checking him out. Her dark hair was brushed over one shoulder, the curls framing her face artfully. Dark eyes were outlined with black liner and mascara, lip gloss the only thing on her lips. He tried to keep his eyes from following the dip of the neckline on her navy blue dress. She smacked Chad with the book she held in one hand as she pushed past the crowd and took the seat next to Troy.

"Hi," she said abruptly, turning to face him with her back to her friends. "Gabriella Montez."

"Um, Troy Bolton." She gave him an odd look and Troy felt his cheeks heat.

"Yeah, I know. Darbus made a big deal about displaying you in front of the class."

"Oh. Right."

Troy watched as Zeke took the seat beside Gabriella, his heart dropping a little at how close they sat and how Zeke seemed to follow her lead. Jason Cross quickly introduced himself before taking the seat across from Troy, followed by a grumbling Chad threatening Gabriella with glue in her hair. Troy got the impression it wouldn't be the first time, although hopefully not at their current age. Gabriella looked unbothered by Chad's musings as she opened her bag and meticulously lined up her notebook, pencil and calculator with her textbook. When Chad continued, she simply opened what looked to be a day planner and wrote in a square while Zeke leaned over her shoulder. Troy diverted his attention.

"There's a test next week on the stuff we covered before break," she mentioned nonchalantly, flicking a glance at Chad who had abruptly shut up and looked pale. "I'd suggest you stop doing what you're doing and start sucking up."

"How do you know these things?" Chad asked, incredulous as Jason groaned and banged his head against the smooth surface of the table.

"I can make myself invisible and spy in the teacher's lounge," Gabriella responded sarcastically, making notes as the teacher entered and began taking attendance. He seemed to ignore the five students at the back when he realized one of them was new.

"It's because she can read the board," Troy replied, his eyes on the textbook as he tried to figure out what he didn't know. He was going to need a tutor. This sucked.

Everyone at the table glanced towards the board, confirming Troy's reference to the note scrawled across the front whiteboard in black marker, then back at Troy who kept his eyes downward. He decided not to look up to see the expressions on their faces. Despite his inclination to chalk their attitudes—the positive and negative ones—towards him up as expected predatory reactions to intruders on their senior turf, he was reluctant to get his hopes up that they could possibly include him in their suggested tutoring sessions. Instead he kept quiet as the foursome chatted and whispered amongst themselves while the teacher introduced the material for the upcoming semester.

Chad, Zeke and Jason reminded him of his old basketball team and subsequent friends. Although Gabriella reminded him of girls at his old school, Troy was having a hard time placing her into any specific role within the group surrounding him. He didn't want to come off as a gossiping cheerleader and ask straight out if she and Zeke were together, but he also didn't want to draw attention to himself as the ignorant newcomer. Beyond Zeke, Troy got the impression that Gabriella wasn't as tightly knit with the group as the three guys. She and Chad's few exchanged words bordered on the snippy side rather than teasing, and Jason looked sufficiently awkward and meek as Troy watched Gabriella work through a chemistry problem with him. Troy wondered where her other friends from homeroom were and if their relationships were the same.

"You're quiet for a basketball player," Gabriella's voice interrupted Troy's train of thought and he was grateful not to be caught staring.

"What makes you think I'm a basketball player? I could play football. Or baseball." He grinned at the laugh that spilled out of her and the rest of the people at the table turned their attention to them.

"First, your dad is the basketball coach. Secondly, these three idiots didn't intimidate you earlier." She leaned forward on her elbow, her body turned towards his. "Third," she looked him up and down, "I've dated football players and baseball players. You don't look as uptight as they do. I blame it on their pants."

"You're perceptive for a cheerleader," Troy replied, setting his pencil down and matching her position. He frowned when she giggled and he caught the self-satisfied smirk on Chad's face. So, not a cheerleader?

"It's a gift, Troy," she laughed. "And you don't have it."

Troy watched as she began packing up her things for the end of class, more confused about her than before. She was perceptive and she knew it, using it to manipulate the people around her into getting along or focusing or feeling at ease. Chad stopped moving towards the door as Troy waited for everyone else to go ahead of him, pondering Gabriella's comment. Looking up, he didn't say anything as Chad fell into step beside him.

"We got off to a bad start earlier," Chad began. "But Gab is a pretty good judge of character so if she's willing to have a conversation with you, I can assume you're not a mass murderer or drug lord."

"And if you're right and I'm not?" Troy asked good naturedly, offering his hand.

"Then I'd warn you not to get your hopes up with Gabriella." Chad gave him a pointed look.

"I wasn't—," Troy stuttered, taken aback that someone who barely knew him could read through his thoughts that easily.

"You were, like every guy in this school who thinks they have a chance. She's not the type."

"She said she's dated other jocks," Troy pointed out, realizing that he and Chad were both headed in the direction of the gymnasium.

"True," Chad nodded, "But that was before Cupid. Now she stays clear of the dating scene."

"Cupid?" Troy asked, convinced he had misheard Chad who was hurrying into the locker room ahead. "What the hell is Cupid?" He noticed his father gesturing to him from an open office door, and he walked in that direction, reminding himself to ask about it later.

**~XOXO~**

In her room that night, her music softly playing and her balcony door propped open to whisk away the smell of nail polish, Gabriella sat on the floor with standard sized sticky notes spread out around her on the rug. In front of her, the sticky notes had begun to form two columns, the girls names on pink and the guys on blue. In her lap, Gabriella had placed the stacks of emails she had received since the dance before Winter Break. Next Friday was the pep rally for the basketball finals and a dance would follow to involve those who normally wouldn't find themselves at an athletic event. Gabriella had used the break to gather Cupid requests via her anonymous email address, with today being the deadline for submissions. She would spend the week making her choices, and then email the ads to the paper to be printed in next Monday's edition in time for the dance.

Pursing her lips, she scanned the names of girls that were left and made her selection for the guy whose email she held. Three more couples were made before she was left with a handful of girls and not enough guys. She hated when that happened. She also hated that most of the girls that were left had emailed her that day asking for Troy Bolton. Troy, of course, had not requested anything and therefore his admirers were left dateless for the dance so far. Sighing, Gabriella continued to reduce the pile in front of her, rearranging some of her earlier pairs, double checking everything twice. Every choice was diligent, each ad constructed flawless. Inputting her selections for the moment into the newsprint layout on her laptop, she double clicked the text box that ran the length of the page at the bottom, acting as a footer. _While you have the chance, look beneath the surface_, she typed and then inserted the familiar signature. _Cupid, XOXO._


	2. Be Suspicious

**Cupid, XOXO**

Chapter 2: Be Suspicious

* * *

The cafeteria at East High on Tuesday buzzed as conversation rose and fell at the tables around Troy. Seated by himself, his tray holding lasagne that made him yearn for his mother's, he flipped through the school newspaper that he had found in his father's new office. His thinking had been that it would allow him to get an idea of the school, of its students, and of the people he had already met. And it had. Turning the page, he noticed that the article at the top of the page had been written by Gabriella, the girl from his chemistry class. It was simple, not overly brilliant, but easy to read with a series of interviews with senior basketball players about the soon-to-be-arriving new coach. Double checking the dates, Troy realized that the paper had been printed before Winter Break.

Turning the page again, after skimming through ideas about prom, yearbooks, Christmas charities and job offers in the city, Troy's eyes froze on an ad designed like a post-it note in the bottom right hand corner of page seven. It was a pale pink, the only other color used in the paper aside from black and white, and he would have glanced over it if not for its color. _Pep Rally Dance Scheduled for January. Deadline for matches will be the Monday back to school. Cupid, XOXO_. There is was again, he thought, his hands frantically turning pages and his eyes combing through the words as he tried to discover another mention of the mysterious Valentine's Day reference. Finding nothing, he re-read the advertisement again, noticing the email address also included.

Movement and increasingly loud voices interrupted Troy's multitude of possibilities for Cupid, and he looked up from the paper to watch the diverse group of people approach his table and begin arranging themselves around him without acknowledging his presence. Chad and Zeke took the bench across from him, Jason taking the seat directly beside him with his girlfriend, Martha, who had introduced herself in homeroom that morning. Ryan Evans sat near the end of the table, a blonde girl with strikingly similar features beside him that had to be Sharpay Evans. Her name had come up the day before in chemistry class. Troy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hand still on the paper, unsure of what to do as everyone continued to carry on with their conversations.

"No, man, you can't be serious?" Chad exclaimed, Troy catching the annoyed look on his face. "You agreed to see it with me this weekend. Jason and Martha already saw it, and now you're ditching me for her? So predictable."

"Chad, I didn't say I couldn't go," Zeke replied evenly, rolling his eyes and breaking a piece off of a cinnamon bun. "I said I can't go Friday. Gabi bought tickets for some movie she wants to see. You and I can go to the theatre on Saturday."

"But what am I supposed to do for Friday while you're all off having lives?" Chad grumbled, cracking off the cap to his bottled water.

"I don't know," Zeke shrugged, unconcerned. "Hang out with Troy or something."

Troy almost spit out the chocolate milk in his mouth with the offhanded way Zeke just tossed his name out there. Other than a few minutes in homeroom, Troy hadn't really spoken to any of the basketball players he had met the day before. Looking awkwardly at Chad, Troy debated how to look nonchalant about the whole ordeal. Chad on the other hand was staring steadily back, as if internally debating his options. Shrugging, he took another swig of water and leaned back.

"Yeah, man, you want to come over and shoot some hoops or something? Work on some of your dad's new plays?" Chad waited for Troy's answer, his expression looking honest and unhostile. "Unless you have a date like the rest of these losers."

"It's not a date, Chad," Zeke sighed, leaning down the table to hand a bag of chocolate chip cookies to Sharpay. "Just me and Gabi."

"It's always just you and Gabi," Sharpay pointed out. "Did you ask her to the dance next week yet? Or did you bite the bullet and join the rest of us on the dark side of fate?"

Troy caught how the light hearted teasing held a certain undercurrent that caused Zeke to tense slightly despite the smile remaining on his face. He relaxed within seconds, but Troy was curious to why no one else seemed to notice. Shaking his head at an offered cookie from the bag that had made its way around the table, Troy wondered for a second where Gabriella was, before refocusing on the conversation. Zeke looked surprised, Troy saw, at Sharpay's comment.

"You signed up for Cupid?" he asked, his smile faltering for a moment. "All of you?"

"Well, not all of us, obviously," Chad spoke up, his glance sliding down to rest on Ryan and then switching to roll his eyes at Jason and Martha who were sharing carrot sticks. "But Sharpay and I thought it would be fun. I have no idea what you and Gabriella have against it."

"We're not against it, we just don't use it," Zeke defended, his eyes now permanently glued to the table. Troy could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He pondered asking the obvious question, but decided to let it go. "I'd like to think that if there was someone I really wanted to ask out, I would have the guts to do it myself."

"But what if she finds you someone who is so perfect for you, but you would never have considered without a push?" Martha asked, leaning closer to Jason. "Maybe she's in the school and you would never know."

"It's still not the same," Zeke responded, putting away the remaining cookie and leaning on his elbows.

Troy watched as the topic was pushed aside, more curious than ever to know what was going on and who they were talking about. As the conversation turned to homework and the upcoming chemistry test, Troy let his mind wander, marvelling at how easy it had been to fit in at East. Well, fit in was an exaggeration, but no one had spray painted his locker or stuck gum in his hair so his fears of being a social piranha could be glossed over. When the bell rang for the next period, he decided to go with the flow and walked with Chad to the chem lab.

**~XOXO~**

Gabriella raised her head from where it lay on her folded arms and watched Chad and Troy approach their back table in the chemistry lab. She could see Jason and Zeke entering behind them, laughing over something. Sitting up straighter, Gabriella pushed her books out of the way to make more room as Chad and Troy slid into seats across from her, and Zeke took the one beside her. Reaching into her bag, she rummaged around until she found a stack of pale pink post-it notes, discovering a cookie on top of her planner when she turned back to her spot.

"You made chocolate chip cookies after I left last night?" she asked, happily breaking off a piece to let it melt in her mouth. "Mmm, yummy." Seeing Troy grin, she offered him a piece only for him to shake his head.

"I had one at lunch," he told her. "Enjoy it."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow at Zeke who just shrugged in reply. Nibbling on her cookie, she absently wrote out study points on her post-it while mulling over the idea of the guys eating with Troy. Watching him through lowered lashes, Gabriella went through the list of girls who had requested him as a date. Even if she could pair them up, she couldn't think of a single girl who would make a decent match. Sighing, she knew she had bigger problems than too many girls wanting Troy Bolton. Nudging Zeke with her elbow, she kept her voice low when he leaned down.

"Will you be home tonight after practice?" she asked softly, her eyes watching the teacher for any sign that he could hear them. "I need help with something."

"Chad and Sharpay mentioned the dance next week," Zeke replied, almost conversationally but only for those within ear shot. There was a pause and then his voice went even lower. "Is that what you need help with?"

"Yes. Why do they insist on fucking with my system?" Gabriella hissed, smiling sweetly when Troy looked up and dropping the facade when he looked away. "I had the layout almost perfect and then their emails came last night."

"We'll figure it out," Zeke assured her, copying the notes on the board because it was obvious Gabriella wasn't going to and while she could read them once and remember forever, he didn't have that ability. "What about Troy?" He kept his voice barely audible and jerked his head towards their newest addition when Gabriella asked him to repeat his question.

"Oh, you know," Gabriella sighed. "He's gorgeous. Everyone wants him. I doubt he even knows about Cupid though, so I can't use him."

Zeke shrugged and went back to his work and Gabriella smiled to herself as she realized that Troy had been drawn into a conversation about free period basketball practice with Chad. Drawing her attention back to the concepts being reviewed on the board, she listened as the table lapsed into silence. Writing out the topics for the test on her pink post-its, she felt a tingling feeling along her shoulders and shivered slightly. Looking up to see if the window behind Troy was open, she caught him watching her, or rather, her hands and the post-its pad beneath them. He had a look on his face that was somewhere between confused and curious. Thinking it was nothing more than a moment of daydreaming, she finished writing her reminder and stuck it to the page in her text book before dropping the pad back into her bag on the floor. When she looked back, Troy appeared absorbed in the properties of alloys and metalloids.

**~XOXO~**

The sound of an electric beater buzzed throughout the Baylor kitchen, its whisks occasionally grinding against the sides of the bowl as Zeke whipped up a batch of chocolate M&M brownies. On the counter beside him, a streak of coco smeared across her cheek, Gabriella's feet swung casually as she sorted blue and green M&Ms from the package. It was tradition, to make brownies using only their favourite colors. Pursing her lips together, she leaned across the sink and dumped her bowl of candies into the mixture being controlled by Zeke.

"So, what should I do about Chad and Sharpay?" Gabriella asked when Zeke shut off the appliance and could hear her without yelling. Holding out the glass pan, she used a rubber spatula to spread the mix evenly along the bottom while Zeke thought about her question.

"Who'd they ask for?" Zeke asked thoughtfully, sprinkling the remaining blue and green candies over the top of the brownies before sliding them into the oven and setting all of the used dishes in the sink.

"No one specific," Gabriella told him, inspecting the ends of her hair for split ends or damage. She frowned and looked closer. "Chad wanted someone fun who wasn't necessarily looking for a relationship, but didn't want to just get laid either." Zeke nodded; it was typically Chad and could be easy. "Shar wants someone who shares her interests and would get along well with her friends for the night of the dance."

"Well, that's not so hard, right? What were you thinking?" Zeke asked, reaching into the fridge for a box of juice. Gabriella leaned out of his way when he reached for the glasses in the cabinet by her head. "Who do you have as possibilities?"

Gabriella mentally scanned through the list in her head, considering and discarding the people she had yet to match, those matched but could still be switched, and outstanding requests she had yet to fill from the last dance. Sighing, she scratched at her scalp and lifted a shoulder at Zeke.

"Honestly, no one I'd like. Most of the girls left wanted Troy or Ryan, which is impossible. Ryan will never ask me for anything again, and Troy is unfair game at this point." Zeke nodded, his own expression telling her he was thinking of possibilities. "And there is no one for Shar. She's either dated them, expressed hatred for them, or would scare them off within seconds."

"Why don't you pair one of Troy's girls with Chad?" Zeke suggested. "They get a date for the dance and if she still wants Troy for the next time, she tries again and Chad won't know. Either way, they both have fun." Gabriella bit her lip, contemplating it.

"And Shar?"

"Me." Gabriella choked on her juice, feeling it dribble down her chin as she stared at Zeke.

"You?" she repeated. Her voice sounded squeaky and her eyes watered. She was aware of Zeke's feelings towards Sharpay although he never did anything deliberate to draw attention to them. He always offered her cookies first at lunch, and he always greeted her in the hallway in the morning. He had admitted it to Gabriella once, when they were hanging out one night and he had commented that their movie was Sharpay's favourite. Shaking her head, Gabriella made her decision. "No. I can't."

"Why not?" Zeke asked, surprised.

"Because it's not fair. You're using Cupid to get the girl you want, and you don't know if she wants you. If you had both asked me without knowing about the other, then I could do it honestly and not question it, but I can't. You're taking advantage of the situation and that's not what Cupid is about," Gabriella argued.

"She just wants a fun night and I just want a chance," Zeke shot back. "How is that not a fair situation?"

"Because you're not supposed to know who your match is, it's anonymous until the moment you meet. You know the rules, Zeke, you helped me make them." Gabriella could hear the pleading in her voice. They hadn't fought over Cupid in a long time, and she hated it. It was so petty to fight over other people who weren't even aware of their role in the argument. "Please don't ask me to do this."

"I am asking, Gabi, just like you asked me to help you with this mad scheme from the beginning. Why can't I use it like everyone else?" Zeke's fist was curled around his glass and his cheekbones dashed with red.

"You have always said you were okay not using the service because if a guy really liked a girl, he'd have the balls to do something different, something that truly put his heart on the line. If you want help with Sharpay, I will help you do it that way, but I won't use Cupid." Gabriella slid off the countertop and strode towards the front door. Slipping her shoes on, she heard Zeke behind her.

"Gabi, please understand. Just this once." Gabriella diverted her gaze from her best friend, wanting to help but knowing that breaking her rules was a slippery slope that she didn't want to be on.

"I can't, Zeke," she repeated, placing one hand on the doorknob. "And you know that."

"Fine. Figure it out on your own."

He turned away from the door even before she closed it behind her.

**~XOXO~**


	3. Be Unsettled

**Cupid, XOXO**

Chapter 3: Be Unsettled

* * *

Gabriella pushed her balcony doors open and stepped onto the coolness of the smooth wood patio. The chilled air caused a shiver to run down her spine but her arms remained goosebump free beneath her sweatshirt. The leaves overhead rustled slightly, the black sky peeking through. Leaning her back against the railing, she let her gaze linger on the interior of her bedroom with its mess of post-it notes scattered on the floor. Her argument with Zeke still echoed in her ears, even hours later.

Cupid had been a last ditch effort of the school paper. Printing it was costly and the school could only provide so much funding. No one read it and therefore no local businesses would supply the needed money through purchasing advertising space. Principal Matsui, new to the school and intent on replacing fading activities with new opportunities, had informed the senior editor-in-chief that she had until the end of the year to triple the readership or lose the paper for the following school year. She had come to the staff with the news and Gabriella had taken it home to mull over. In the end, she could thank reality television and a random blog she had stumbled over for the idea of Cupid.

It had to be flawless, the two of them decided—not even the other staff could know. Gabriella took care of the money, using the cash from a babysitting job to purchase a small 3x3 square on the front page of the paper two weeks before Valentine's Day. Then, together, they made sure everyone in school knew about it. The anonymous email address kept the pressure off of the paper's staff and prying eyes turned to examine girls who would fit the bill of matchmaker. No one confessed and Cupid blossomed.

Those who applied during the first edition were easy to match. Most were shy, nervous or socially awkward students who wanted to feel part of a school activity rather than an outsider. Gabriella had sat at her table, watching with perfectly kohl outlined eyes, plotting out the rest of the school year as Cupid. When March came, she faced a new problem. She didn't know enough people. Neither did the editor. Zeke was their gateway.

Turning away from the railing and looking out into her backyard, Gabriella fingered the pink post-it in her hand with Sharpay's name on it. Zeke had been furious that she had kept such a secret from him. She hadn't asked him to help; she simply made a conscious effort to listen when he spoke about his other friends, she went out more when she was invited. She paid attention when girls talked about the jocks. Zeke hadn't truly gotten involved until their Junior year, when the former editor graduated and Gabriella took her place. Cupid had gained influence and the mystery had only heightened over the summer while students wondered if she would reappear for a new school year. Gabriella had gone to Zeke for advice on how to keep the project going. Zeke insisted on boundaries. Together, they created ground rules, not only for the system but for themselves. To remain anonymous. To force no one. To only work upon request. To not use their followers for their own personal gain. Gabriella closed her eyes at the emerging headache. Cupid would end when she left East High. She had decided that during Winter Break. It would fade away like the myth it was meant to be. Until then, she had a problem.

Sharpay had managed to date almost every senior at East High during her four years and all without Cupid's help. With her sarcastic nature, no one ever lasted long. Gabriella knew she was only turning to the ads now because she was running out of options. Chad had done it on a whim. To test the system; to be able to say he had taken the risk. Gabriella had suspicions but Zeke had confirmed them. It left her little room for choosing them a match. Zeke had been right to suggest that Chad would be easy to please, but Sharpay could not be left unmatched. Not with Cupid's history with the Evans' family and not with Sharpay's means of persuasion when it came to luring followers to her side. No, Gabriella could not push her to the side with a leftover.

And there was Zeke. Gabriella, no matter what he thought, wanted him to have a chance with any girl he wanted—even if Sharpay was far from Gabriella's first choice for him. Sighing, Gabriella thought about the guys who were left to be paired. Liam, the football captain who, until recently, had been sucking face constantly with the cheerleading captain and therefore untouchable in Gabriella's mind despite his constant requests for a date. Stu, the decathlon whizz who was mildly attractive and demanded highly intelligent dates. While Gabriella would love to prove to him that Sharpay was not as dumb as she sometimes played, they would end up killing each other. Alex, who only yesterday had argued with Jason over whether or not chess was a sport. Gabriella still had no idea who won that conversation, but she doubted Sharpay would care either way. And then there was Chad.

Gabriella paused in her thoughts for a moment and considered it. Chad wanted someone fun and not clingy. Sharpay rarely hung out with them and therefore it would not be a case of setting up two friends like last time. That fall out had taught Gabriella a lesson. Her mind sped ahead. Zeke would understand that she meant nothing by it, and that it would end after the dance. It could work. It had to work, Gabriella told the inkling of doubt at the back of her mind. A smile grew as she hurried inside and picked Chad's name out of the pile of possibilities on the floor. It would give Zeke an opening and he could have a chance without relying on the system.

Spinning her computer chair towards the desk in one swift motion, Gabriella filled out her layout and hit submit, transferring the data from Cupid's email to the Gazette's office at school.

**~XOXO~**

Troy had decided to walk to school on Wednesday. It was less than a twenty minute walk if he didn't get lost and he had yet to find a job to pay for the gas in his truck. As a result, he had begrudgingly taken his mother's suggestion and left early that morning to take in the neighbourhood as he progressed towards East High. Turning onto the street which intersected with his own, Troy heard a slamming door that took his thoughts away from the street names pressed into the sidewalk. Adjusting his ball cap, Troy slowed to watch as Gabriella crossed to her neighbour's house and rang the doorbell.

Curious, he watched as she impatiently shifted her stance, paused, and raised a fist to pound on the door. Troy could see the stiffness of her motions, and watched as she repeated her actions twice more before giving in and turning away. Digging his hands into his pockets, Troy rocked on his heels, awkwardly wondering if he should make his presence known as Gabriella walked towards the car parked in the driveway with her head bent.

"Um, hey." His voice came out more confident and normal sounding than Troy had expected and his moment of unease vanished. Gabriella looked startled for a moment, taking a second to recognize his face before walking towards him.

"Hey." Her voice was soft, easy and melodious although Troy thought she looked tired. "What are you doing here?"

"Walking to school. I live around the corner," Troy replied with a shrug of one shoulder, the movement slightly hidden by the weight of his backpack. "My truck needed gas so I thought I would be environmentally friendly for the day." He tugged the straps on his shoulders as Gabriella glanced back at her car and then at his face again. "Do you want to join me?"

"Actually, I was going to take the car because I have to stay late at the paper tonight to get it out for tomorrow. It's behind because of break." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know what though? I can get a ride home with someone."

They quickly fell into step beside one another, Troy letting himself follow Gabriella's lead as she cut through a handful of pathways until they were in sight of the school up ahead. Neither had said a word to the other. Gabriella was deep in her own thoughts and Troy was trying to keep an eye on the route she was taking him so he could repeat it next time. Nearing the unlocked gate to the school road, he sucked in a breath and plunged in to break the silence.

"So, do you uh-," he caught her amused sideways glance at his discomfort, "Do you need a ride home this afternoon? After the paper is done? We have practice until five."

"There's no need," Gabriella answered quietly, stopping so both of them were forced to pause at the foot of the front steps. "Chad will drop me off when he takes Zeke home. I'm assuming that he picked Zeke up this morning since he wasn't there when I knocked."

"Zeke lives next door to you?" Troy was somewhere between curious and relieved. It explained their relationship.

"Yeah." Gabriella shot him a small smile. "We've been neighbours since we were little. Yesterday he asked me to for a drive this morning, but then we-. Anyway, I'll ask Chad." Troy waited for her to finish her previous thought, but a school bell dinged overhead from the speaker and Gabriella looked disappointed. "We should really go inside. Thanks for the walk, Troy."

Running up the steps, she never once looked back over her shoulder. Not even when Troy willed her to do so.

**~XOXO~**

Nearly everyone had arrived in Ms. Darbus' drama room for the period directly following the senior lunch hour by the time Gabriella reached the door. Pausing to run a hand through her hair, she gripped her binder tightly to her chest and strode inside to quickly take her seat. Zeke never looked up from where he was reading his English text and her ready smile faltered as she tried to look occupied and unaware of his obvious snub.

They had managed to avoid each other all morning and during lunch, each making excuses for basketball or the scholastic decathlon or needing to use the bathroom. Their only shared classes were chemistry and drama, both in the afternoon and back-to-back. Gabriella had hoped that Ms. Darbus would spend the class lecturing on the importance of auditioning for the upcoming winter musical, but she was to be disappointed.

"Now, you and your partner will choose a scene from one of the plays on the bookshelf and learn it for next Friday. You are to present it to the class as though it were an audition and the class will act as a judging panel to decide if you would make their casting list. Understood? I hope so. I won't repeat it." Flitting to her desk to pull out a planner, the teacher peered over her half moon glasses and eyed the class with annoyance. "Why are you all looking at me like I asked you to re-enact _Titanic_? Go! Practice! Be!"

Gabriella sighed, pushing her books to the corner of her desk and looking towards her best friend at the front of the room. Zeke's back was to her, but she hadn't expected anything else. She was half out of her seat to go get them a book to use when Kelsi took the empty seat ahead of Zeke, positioning herself so Zeke could see her play selection. Gabriella watched, dumbfounded, as Kelsi pointed out cues and dialogue in the scene while Zeke tried to follow along.

Chad tapped her on the back, snapping Gabriella back to class and her assignment.

"I picked Twelfth Night," he told her while aimlessly flicking the pages with distaste, "Not that I know anything about it, but I recognized the author and hoped you would be cool with us using it." He looked up at her expectantly.

"You recognized _Shakespeare_?" It was the only thing Gabriella could think of saying as she tried to catch up to the last five minutes of Chad's life that apparently now affected hers. "That was the inspiration behind your choice?"

"Gab, I picked a play and I picked a partner. You can take me or leave me to go ask Ms Darbus to find you one, but I doubt you want her to announce to the class that you got ditched." Chad quirked an eyebrow at her while still maintaining a look of complete boredom. Gabriella's frown of confusion turned to one of irritation.

"He did not ditch me," Gabriella's insistence came out as a hiss. She slid her gaze to the duo at the front.

"So he's branching out, is he? How intellectual of him," Chad bit out, pausing to flatten the pages of the book to a scene he thought they could try. Looking up, he met Gabriella's gaze full on. "You're fighting. It's obvious to all of us. I don't know what it's about, but usually when the two of you fight Zeke looks all guilty and tortured. Since he is ignoring you, I'll go with the assumption that it's your fault." Gabriella looked away.

"Everybody noticed?" she asked quietly. She took the book from him to skim the page, deciding she'd do whatever he wanted because for the moment, she didn't want to be the one making choices. Chad shrugged.

"Not everyone. Troy might have said something about walking with you to school this morning." Gabriella tried to ignore the mischievous spark in Chad's eye and the way his voice sounded amused. "And Zeke called me this morning and said you were busy and couldn't drive him."

"But I wasn't-," Gabriella closed her mouth when Chad rolled his eyes at her protest.

"Gab, he was lying. I could hear it through the phone. He wouldn't tell me what was going on though." There was a pause. Gabriella read the scene, looking up when Chad cleared his throat.

"What?"

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Gabriella pretended to consider the question.

"No."

"Why not? I can listen, dispense advice, and all of that stuff." He looked indignant, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. Gabriella remained silent, even when Chad reached across the desk and pulled the book from her grasp as she gave him a look of incredulousness. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, you get to play Orsino and I will play Cesario. I want the better name. Orsino sounds like a body part."

"Chad," Gabriella began with a smirk, "Cesario is a girl."

"What? No, he's not. Right here, it says he is wooing Olivia," Chad protested, his finger following under the quote.

"Keep reading," Gabriella urged.

"I'm telling you..." Chad's voice trailed off as Gabriella's finger guided him to the point she was referring to. "That's just crazy. What the hell is this thing about anyway?" Gabriella found herself instantly sobered.

"It's about disguising yourself so no one knows the real you." Chad looked unimpressed. "It's the idea that what you see and believe to be the truth may well be a lie. In the end, their love for each other is in conflict with their distrust of that love."

"The cover had a boat. I thought it would be manly," Chad complained. "Everything in this class has to get mushy and complicated."

Gabriella said nothing.

**~XOXO~**

The door to the East High Gazette office was open, the lights ablaze. It wasn't much; a small room slightly bigger than the principal's office with a desk, two computers, a printer and a locked cabinet filled with cameras, tape recorders and extra batteries. A shelf above the desk held stacks of back issues of the newspaper and a bulletin board on the otherwise bare wall was covered with articles and event notices and lists of assignments. Staff meetings were conducted in the board room when Gabriella could sign it out from the school faculty. Most of the time, the newspaper's staff tried to do their work at home, emailing it to Gabriella who spent hours laying out and printing the final drafts. She didn't mind the quiet or the privacy; it worked in Cupid's favour.

The deadline for stories had been the day before. Advertising had been lined up since before Christmas. The only two things Gabriella had stalled the paper for was confirmation of the details for the upcoming dance and the score of the basketball game played the night before between West High and Albuquerque Prep. Scrolling through the final draft, she confirmed that the copy-editing team had caught all the mistakes earlier that afternoon. After selecting the printing options, Gabriella leaned back in her chair and ran her hands over the even pages of her drama book, waiting for the first edition to be completed.

Glancing at the clock on her computer screen, Gabriella calculated that she should be done by the time basketball practice ended in the gym. Chad had warned her he didn't want to wait for her. Leaving her desk, Gabriella followed the hallway to the multi-functional printer behind the secretary's desk. Pulling the first edition of that week's paper from the tray, she ensured all of the pages were there before folding along the proper creases and laying the finished product flat on the vacant surface of a desk nearby. Flicking through the pages with a careful and scrutinising gaze, she paused to pay extra attention to the one page she knew every word of.

Deceptively made to appear unimportant and just as mediocre as the rest, the small square for Chad and Sharpay was printed off to the right and just above the last row on the page. Thirty-five matches in all, plus an apology to those who didn't make the cut. Each couple were set to meet at a different location within walking distance of the school, their code names side by side. At the bottom ran the familiar signature: _Chances to be taken, regrets to never have. Cupid, XOXO_

An hour later, Gabriella set the fresh, still warm, stack of folded papers on the stand located beneath the extracurricular activities bulletin board.

**~XOXO~**


End file.
